Love Is a Tough Thing to Guess
by Sakura Kaijuu
Summary: Shikamaru's dad always asks him if he still thinks women are troublesome, but when he asks about Ino, Shikamaru starts thinking. After accidentally pissing Ino off, he thinks harder about how he really feels about her...ShikaIno, minor NaruSaku


Disclaimer: Wow...I'm not sure how many times I've said this now, but I still don't own Naruto. *thinks* Um...I think about 9 times. That's interesting, right?  
  
A/N: I feel like writing a ShikaIno fic. I don't know why. I'm just not in the mood to start chapter six of The Troublesome Gets More Troublesome. Which is okay, cuz I only did that today. So I'm just writing a ShikaIno fic cuz they're so cute! There might be a touch of other coupling, but I don't know, cuz I haven't written any of this fic yet. Basically it'll be a fluff thing. And, as always, they are all 16-17 years old.  
  
-- Sakura Kaijuu  
  
P.S. -- Can you tell that my favorite character is Shikamaru-kun?? I really do heart him. Very muchly. :p My top five favorite characters are: Shikamaru, Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, and Ino. Hee hee.  
  
-- SK  
  
*~*  
  
As usual, Shikamaru and his father were eating breakfast at the table while his mother bustled around, shouting orders to his father. His father agreed to everything she said. As Shikamaru watched him, he wasn't sure if his dad was just saying yes to shut her up or not.  
  
Every couple of weeks, Shikato asked his son what he thought of women. And every time Shikamaru said that they were troublesome. Shikamaru noticed that it was about time for his dad to ask him again. He was right. "Shikamaru, what do you think of --"  
  
"They're very troublesome," Shikamaru interrupted his father and took another bite of cereal.  
  
"Huh. What about Ino?" Shikato watched his son carefully.  
  
Shikamaru met his gaze. "She's just as troublesome as the rest of them. Probably more so. She's so bossy."  
  
"Fair enough," Shikato went on eating his breakfast, and their conversation ended there.  
  
*~*  
  
Shikamaru wandered through the village with his hands in his pockets. He hadn't felt like wearing his chuunin tack today, since he didn't have a mission, so he was just wearing his normal clothes. "Ugh...What am I going to do today?" he asked himself out loud. There was no one to hang out with today, and he didn't know anyone besides Asuma-sensei who would play him at shogi or go.  
  
He thought more about what his father had asked him. This was the first time Ino had been brought into the conversation. He wondered why. Thinking about Ino, he decided to stop by the flower shop, just for someone to talk to.  
  
*~*  
  
When he arrived at the flower shop, he saw that Mrs. Yamanaka was working behind the counter, and Ino was right next to her making a flower arrangement. As the bell rang, both women looked up. Ino looked pleased, "Shikamaru! How are you doing?"  
  
"Fine..." Shikamaru was understandably confused. They had seen each other yesterday. "You?"  
  
"I'm awesome." Ino replied. "What brings you here?"  
  
"I was bored and I had no one to talk to," he replied simply. 'Actually,' he thought, 'I'm not sure why I decided to come talk to Ino. I could've gone to Naruto's. Or Kiba's. Even Sakura's. Why did I come here?'  
  
"Ino, you can go," her mother smiled at Shikamaru.  
  
Ino took off her gardening gloves and walked around the counter, "Thanks Mom! I'll see you later, kay?"  
  
"All right, dear. Be back before dinner, all right?"  
  
"Right," Ino smiled at Shikamaru. "So let's get out of here."  
  
*~*  
  
Shikamaru was staring at the ground while Ino babbled on about Sasuke and how the flower shop was doing. He couldn't figure out why he was spending his day with Ino. It didn't make sense to him. All he knew was that if his dad saw him, he'd get the ridiculing of a lifetime. He scratched his nose, 'But why am I with Ino?'  
  
"-- Right, Shikamaru?" Ino's voice penetrated his thoughts.  
  
"What? Oh, um...sure..." Shikamaru replied nervously. He didn't have the slightest idea what she was talking about.  
  
She seemed to realize that. She smirked. "Shikamaru, what have I been talking about for the past couple minutes?"  
  
"Um...ah...That would be...Uh..." Shikamaru tried and failed miserably to recall what she had been talking about.  
  
"I was asking you if you thought I was mature enough to have a boyfriend, because Sakura doesn't think I am. I've kind of been wondering how far she and Naruto have gotten. When I asked her, she didn't answer and just kind of blushed. So I think that means she's made out with him a couple of times, but nothing past that. They're really lucky, y'know? Over at Naruto's, there's no supervision, so they don't have to worry about his parents walking in."  
  
Shikamaru was staring at her in disbelief. He always wondered how she could hop from one topic to the next without so much as a breath inbetween. Then he shook his head. "I think you'll be mature enough to date as soon as you get over Sasuke."  
  
No sooner were the words out of his mouth than his eyes widened and he covered his mouth. He hadn't meant to say that. He hadn't even realized he wanted to say that. He just kind of said it. Ino stared at him, "Shikamaru?" She sounded hurt. "Do you really mean that?"  
  
"Um..." Shikamaru uncovered his mouth. "I didn't mean to say it. I didn't even know I wanted to say it. I swear to God."  
  
Ino looked disbelieving, "But you did mean it." She turned away from him, "Y'know what, Shikamaru? I think I'm going to go home now. I'll see you later." She walked away as quickly as she could without running.  
  
Shikamaru watched her go, still wondering why he had said anything at all.  
  
*~*  
  
He wandered down to Ichiraku, half hoping to see Naruto, but there wasn't anyone there. It was just after breakfast, and even though Naruto was a ramen fanatic, he wouldn't be there until at least late morning. He sighed and ordered a bowl of beef ramen for himself.  
  
He sat, contemplating the situation. Today was a very weird day. First of all, his dad had asked him about Ino. Then he had said something really rude to her. But he didn't mean for it to be rude. 'This is so troublesome...'  
  
The curtain of the noodle stand was pushed back and a person Shikamaru DIDN'T want to talk to come and sat down next to him. It was Ino's father, Inoshi. Shikamaru clenched his teeth, "I thought you had a mission today..."  
  
"Nope," came the simple answer. Ino's father calmly ordered a bowl of ramen and turned back to Shikato's son. "Shikamaru, what did you do?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Shikamaru glanced at the older man with distaste. He had never been particularly fond of Inoshi Yamanaka, and this was a time that he was even less likely to like him.  
  
"My daughter is at home crying her eyes out over something YOU said," Inoshi calmly began eating. "I'm not saying that's a bad thing. It's just a little louder than usual around our house. What did you say that made her so upset?"  
  
"This is why women are so troublesome," Shikamaru groaned. "She asked me if I thought that she was too immature to date, and I said that she was and always would be until she stopped chasing Sasuke."  
  
"Ah..." Inoshi continued eating. "Not a smart move."  
  
"But I didn't even know I WANTED to say that. I don't know where that came from!" Shikamaru yelled in his own defense, his ramen lying forgotten and cold next to him.  
  
"When you don't know that you're in love with a girl, you tend to say things you don't mean," Ino's father blew on a bite of ramen to cool it before putting it in his mouth.  
  
Shikamaru's eyes widened in disbelief and his jaw dropped. "What?"  
  
"You're in love with Ino, Shikamaru."  
  
"No. No I'm not. It's so dumb to be in love. Women are too troublesome to deal with, and so I just avoid them completely," Shikamaru closed his eyes and crossed his arms stubbornly.  
  
"Then why did you come by the flower shop this morning?" Inoshi had finished his ramen and was now looking at Shikamaru.  
  
"Just to talk to Ino."  
  
"Why Ino? Why not Kiba or Naruto?"  
  
"They're both so loud and troublesome," Shikamaru explained simply.  
  
"But aren't women troublesome too?" Inoshi countered with Shikamaru's own logic.  
  
Shikamaru opened his eyes and looked at Inoshi. Then his eyes widened and he started to blush a little. His mouth fell open and he nearly fell off the stool. Inoshi was right. He was in love with Ino. The most troublesome, bossy girl he knew. Worse than Sakura. Definitely worse than Hinata. But how had that happened? He had known Ino for a long time. Why was it now that he was in love with Ino? Had he always been jealous of Sasuke? Sure, he had never liked the kid, but was that the entire reason why? Because he had liked Ino and Ino liked Sasuke?  
  
Inoshi watched the boy with a grin on his face. "Good luck to you. If there's anyone I would trust my daughter to, it would be the son of Nara Shikato." He got up and left the stand, leaving enough money to pay for both bowls of ramen on the counter.  
  
A few minutes later a slightly dazed Shikamaru left the stand to go hang out on his favorite bench. Maybe he could roll this over in his head a few more times and figure out why this had happened to him.  
  
*~*  
  
Shikamaru couldn't even enjoy the clouds today. It was impossible to lose himself in the sky today...not after Inoshi had brought him to the realization that he really WAS in love Ino. He was so frustrated. Of all the stupid things for him to not be able to grasp, it was this one little thing.  
  
"Hey Shikamaru," he groaned as he heard Naruto's voice coming up the stairs. "What exactly did you say to Ino this morning?"  
  
He sat up. He looked at Naruto. "Does the whole village know about Ino throwing a tantrum, or what?"  
  
"Hey, no need to get testy," he sat down next to him. "Ino called Sakura this a while ago and told her, and she told me. That's all. No one else knows, I swear."  
  
"You better be telling the truth," Shikamaru looked at the ground. "What I basically told her was that she was immature for still chasing Sasuke, and she got really upset at me for that."  
  
"Is that why you're here?" Naruto looked around Shikamaru's favorite spot.  
  
"Actually, no," Shikamaru leaned back and looked at the clouds. "The reason I'm here is to try to clear my head, because Ino's dad pointed something out to me that I hadn't realized before."  
  
"What?" Naruto looked genuinely curious. "I mean, unless it's something you can't tell me. But I promise I won't blab it no matter what it is."  
  
This was the kind of thing he would share with Chouji. But Chouji was dead, and Naruto was the closest person to him anymore. He sighed and looked at Naruto in the eye, "Inoshi told me I was in love with Ino. And it's true. I just didn't get it before."  
  
Naruto raised his eyebrows, "Really? So what are you gonna do?"  
  
"I'm not sure. I know that Ino is still really pissed off at me, and I don't wanna get clobbered today."  
  
"If you don't do anything, then you'll just be in more trouble," Naruto commented.  
  
Shikamaru sighed heavily, "I know, I know. That's why these things are always so troublesome."  
  
*~*  
  
Sakura sat in Ino's room, trying to comfort her friend. "Ino, what's wrong with you?"  
  
Ino had long since stopped crying, but she was still visibly upset. "I don't know!"  
  
"Is it that Shikamaru yelled at you, or that he told you that you were immature? Or that he told you that you weren't worthy of Sasuke?" Sakura was completely flustered. She and Ino had long since patched up their friendship, but there were still holes in it when it came to their relationships.  
  
"But he didn't yell at me," Ino said. She looked at Sakura guiltily, "In fact, he apologized right after he said it. Like he hadn't meant to say it at all."  
  
"Ah. So why are you so upset?"  
  
Ino had been trying to think things through clearly. When Shikamaru had said that, he had seemed a little angry. She wondered why. 'What does Shikamaru have to be angry about? He's always said women are so troublesome...'  
  
It made her angry that he had told her she was too low for Sasuke, but what could she do about that? In fact, she wasn't really sure that it was that at all. She had always known that Sasuke-kun was a little out of her league. He brushed off everyone like they didn't matter. Was it the immature part? Or had she been the one to be wrong by trying to ask Shikamaru for advice.  
  
But Shikamaru always gave her advice. Maybe it was sarcastic and maybe it wasn't real advice at all, but usually when she thought about it later, it did make sense. She turned to Sakura, who was still looking kind of worried, "Sakura, thanks for coming over. I think I'll just wait until tomorrow to talk to Shikamaru. I mean, unless he comes over here."  
  
"Okay..." Sakura stood to go. "I hope things go all right with you and Shikamaru..."  
  
"Oh, I'm sure they will. It'll just take a bit."  
  
*~*  
  
"I think I'll talk to her tomorrow," Shikamaru said.  
  
Naruto was a little startled. Shikamaru had been quiet for so long that he wasn't sure that he was going to say anything else. The sun was setting by this point. Naruto and Shikamaru had been sitting there for about two hours. After all, Naruto had only gotten up there at around four. "Well, if that's what you think is good. I have to go anyway."  
  
"Right," Shikamaru stood up. "My mom'll kill me if I'm late for dinner anyway. I'll see you later, Naruto."  
  
*~*  
  
His mother yelled at him for being late home (it was only five minutes for crying out loud...), but he hardly heard her. He was thinking to hard about what he had realized that day. He barely noticed that his mother stopped yelling at him after his dad whispered something in her ear.  
  
"Sorry..." he said vaguely as he ate his supper. He was still a little confused about what Inoshi had made him see that day, but he was sure it would work out tomorrow.  
  
*~*  
  
The next day, both of them met Asuma for morning training. As soon as Shikamaru saw Ino, he blushed. Through the entire morning, Asuma noticed that Shikamaru's attention wasn't really on the task. Even though he was getting everything accomplished, it wasn't the most effective way to do anything. He also noticed that Shikamaru kept glancing at Ino.  
  
'Stupid woman...' he grimaced as he caught himself looking at Ino again. Asuma called time for lunch, and Shikamaru approached Ino with his hands in his pockets. "Ino..."  
  
She looked up at him, "Look Shikamaru, I'm really sorry about how I reacted yesterday. At this rate, you're right. I am too immature -- "  
  
"Ino, I love you," Shikamaru blushed and looked away. "I'm sorry about what I said yesterday, I really am, but I love you."  
  
Ino's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "What?"  
  
He took a deep breath and looked at her again. 'She really is pretty,' he admitted to himself grudgingly. "You heard me. I love you."  
  
She smiled a little bit, "But I thought women were all so troublesome?" Shikamaru was surprised at how similar she was to her father.  
  
Shikamaru didn't know what to do next. He stood there, looking uneasy. He took his hands out of his pockets and rubbed his shoulders.  
  
Ino's smile widened. It wasn't often that she got to see Shikamaru this agitated. She stepped closer to him, "Hey Shikamaru, you wanna go watch some clouds?"  
  
"What?" Shikamaru wasn't expecting that.  
  
She grabbed his arms and pulled his hands into hers. "Y'know what? I think what I was so upset about yesterday wasn't that you told me I was immature. I think it was because I've relied on you for good advice, and that's the first time you've ever said anything that was actually negative."  
  
"Oh..." Shikamaru thought for a second. It was true that Ino asked him about a lot of stuff.  
  
"And I think I relied on you for that kind of advice because..." she blushed a little and squeezed his hands. "Well, because I love you too." She reached up and brought his face to hers and kissed him.  
  
That had been the last thing Shikamaru was expecting. But he realized while she was kissing him that he had kind of wanted it to happen. He relaxed somewhat and put his arms around her and kissed her back. When they broke apart, they were both smiling and blushing. But this felt right.  
  
"After training today I think I'll take you up on watching clouds," Shikamaru's smile turned into a smirk.  
  
"All right. I can do that," Ino smiled and kissed him again. "Are women really so troublesome?"  
  
"Yes," he replied automatically. "Every single one. You're just a little less troublesome than the rest." They both smiled and laughed a little.  
  
*~*  
  
The end!!!!  
  
*~*  
  
A/N: Ha ha ha! I did it again! And isn't this fic so cute? I think it's great. I'm very happy with this one. La de da de da...So I hope you guys liked it a lot!  
  
-- Sakura Kaijuu 


End file.
